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  • kamanashish 7:21 pm on 03/12/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Youtube Trueview video ads – Must Watch!!! 

    When everybody is talking about permission marketing – Google is going for traditional interruption marketing (advertisements shown in TV, Radio – where the user does not have any choice but to watch / listen to an advertisement) with the TrueView advertisements at Youtube.

    Ok, here is a difference – you can skip the advertisement – but only after 5 seconds. 5 Seconds!!! Hell – thats a lot of time to lose a visitor. Any seasoned webmaster knows the price of those opening 5 seconds.

    Google normally does not try to do that – they have always acted like ‘content is the prime focus in a page’ and did not allow more than 3 AdSense ad units in a page. Google is not a traditional content producer like Yahoo. It depends on content produced by others to run the search engine. So, why?

    There are 2 types of advertisements now under TrueView – Instream and InSlate.

    The Instream advertisement will grab your 5 opening seconds and the InSlate advertisement will be played at regular commercial interval. Oops .. Google copying from traditional media – even the terms!!

    You must agree that it is not “Google like”. – Is Google hacked? :D

    By the way – people watch YouTube because it is cool. It does not force you to take commercial breaks. People even watch advertisements on youtube because they are good. People love Youtube for the freedom to watch whatever they want to and without interruption.

    What is drying up there @ Google?

     
    • Sanjib Chakravorty 8:17 pm on 03/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Knowing KR personally I always expect him to come up with informative posts and inputs worth a thought. Very nice insight on a latest Google-trend. Google being a market leader, has always been under the scanner, and IT enthusiasts, as well as IT firms are always eager to follow their footsteps when it comes to strategizing. Changing the pattern of advertising to what they have taken up is ‘unGoogle’ like. This is probablythrows up a debate open between the traditional marketing gurus, and the nonconformists. Since people at the helm in Google are brilliant strategists, it would be interesting to see how things progress on this front with ProGoogle folks and otherwise, locking horns with facts and figures.
      Will keep an eye here to find out whats cooking more around Googleplex and other interesting areas..
      Cheers.

      • Shawnik Singh Thakur 4:58 pm on 04/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

        As it seems to me, Google is just trying to make some ‘more’ money during the festive season … :D

        Perhaps, it is the trial and error method that they are following. But I also believe like Kamnashish says, it is going to kill the cool factor of YouTube …

      • kamanashish 3:05 pm on 06/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

        Thanks Sanjib for those nice words. :D

        And, yes, we are looking forward to find out the results of this experiment. In fact, I will I will hope that the results does not go in favor of Google… And again, this is festive season – the number of $ will definitely go high for them.

    • Pramod 8:18 pm on 03/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      I just didn’t think of it this way ..

    • Debleena 7:28 am on 04/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Permission marketing always comes with a priviledge and there are no reservations….it makes the audience feel good! But as you wrote, the feel good factor is missing…again it s the same old “commercial” phenomenon…WTF….actually very few companies can have the gust to do permission marketing…so obvoiusly this ‘True View Ads’ sucks!!!

    • Ipsita 9:54 am on 04/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Its really like forceful marketing but i guess like Debleena suggested very few companies have the guts. But somehow like mentioned the whole concept of Youtube being ‘cool’ is a lost cause.

    • Jayanta 6:36 pm on 04/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Google is such a giant company….they should have the guts to do permission marketing. But they are looking to make more money. Certainly the Google appeal is drying up.

    • saikat 12:49 am on 05/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      But YouTube will still remain ‘COOL’ – as long as it says “Broadcast Yourself’ :D

    • Shilpa Srivastava 7:42 pm on 05/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Well Google has been always there with its tricks :) . A compilation of news from different sources and Google names it their own as Google news. They come up with the preview feature which prompts the readers to be there on their site rather than visiting the concerned site; thus deviating from their basic concept which says they want users to spend less time on Google and more on the sites that come up in the search results. So Google has always been with something ‘different’. Point is we have accepted it and would continue to do so since we hardly have any choice other than accepting the tantrums of the search giant. Debatable point?

      • kamanashish 3:00 pm on 06/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

        It is important to have competitors for the end-user’s benefit. Here we do not have much.
        And another point is – producing content is an expansive affair for web publishers. What about Google?

        • saikat 6:34 am on 08/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

          Of course Google produces content – they have loads of Help and Support documents and not to forget they have blogs for all their products and services…lol

    • Randy Maccord 1:34 am on 17/11/2011 Permalink | Reply

      Hello, everyone, I just came here, nice to fulfill you, welcome to visit my site and space, happy to be friends together with you, love your little Tom

  • kamanashish 9:13 am on 02/12/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Tips on Online Branding 

    In offline market a brand is realized by impressions. However, the Point of Impressions are limited to TV, Newspaper, Hoardings etc .. But on web there are innumerable point of impressions … There are hundreds of websites in a single niche where a visitor can get in touch with your brand (under construction).

    Finding a niche is nice but the “niche” poses many problems for online branding too. For example, having an account at Flickr is both good and bad for a photographer’s brand identity development. Because Flickr is like an aquarium and there are millions of other fishes in it. It is really tough to grab unique attention in such a crowded place. It is like having thousands of tee shirt brands in one store (good for buyers) and no advertisement allowed.

    At the same time when you live in isolation (personal website / blog) you are missing the brand value and user volume of Flickr. And if you do not have a website, people will not take you seriously.

    So how to go about developing an online brand (example – a photographer)?

    You need to find out less crowded places and verticals to promote your brand apart from staying at Flickr. For example, a photographer may create a cool slideshow (storyboard + photographs) / videos etc and publish them at places, where there are everyone else but photographers – e.g. slideshare.net. You need to find out nodes, who will connect you to hundreds of other people. For example: do something that smashingmagazine.com will publish.

    Now, here are more niches. For example, if you want to catch the online business community and get freelance photography projects from them, try to get yourself covered by powerful people in that community e.g. Seth Godin / Guy Kawasaki.

    One must develop as many point of impressions as possible… Doing more partnerships and highlighting your achievements by “others” may help :D

    Or do something crazy / funny / stupid (must go along your brand identity) that people will share via social networks.

    Once people start seeing you at different places – you know what you earn – brand value…

     
    • Debleena 10:03 am on 02/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      The term “brand management” arouses a lot of inhibitions to many. I come across many PDFs and Google books on “online branding strategy”….but I do never find interesting solutions because there are none….being in the spotlight needs guts! I read one very interesting quote “Throw away all your business strategies, join in the chaos!”…..in fact Seth Godin talk about making a lot of meaningful noise…..So it is all about being different….and that you have already said! Loved your thought! Let me try out something crazzzy!

    • suranjana 10:07 am on 02/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      is it possible to create a brand name for other things? for example, a very cliche thing but not popular? like bengali poetry?

    • Priyanka 10:12 am on 02/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Very nice write-up. Agree with your idea of spreading knowledge about your brand.

    • Arne 2:24 am on 07/02/2012 Permalink | Reply

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    • Dustin 10:59 pm on 13/04/2012 Permalink | Reply

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    • Katheleen 5:33 pm on 16/05/2012 Permalink | Reply

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  • saikat 2:20 pm on 01/12/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , technical journalism   

    Exploring new wings of writing – technical journalism…feeling good :)

     
  • saikat 12:48 pm on 01/12/2010 Permalink | Reply  

    What is Google? A Search Engine? 

    On one hand, it is planning to launch its own book retailing venture and on the other, it is planning to buy Groupon. Can we still call Google a search engine? If not, what is Google?

     
    • kamanashish 9:26 am on 02/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Google started as a Search Engine but now it is a giant corporate – spreading business in every possible direction. And here is a list of Google Products http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products

      and here is a list of Google ventures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Ventures

    • Jayanta 8:07 pm on 03/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Google has also launched a fashion website..http://www.boutiques.com/
      They are here to do business and will soon be the largest internet marketing company in the world :)

    • Pramod 8:20 pm on 03/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      @ Jayanta – they are.

    • wpolscemamymocneseo 4:59 am on 12/01/2011 Permalink | Reply

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    • Shon 8:45 pm on 07/02/2012 Permalink | Reply

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  • kamanashish 7:44 am on 29/11/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Initiative   

    A few days back at IIM Ahmedabad, we met a person who planted more than 10,000 trees in Gujrat without being part of any NGO. We do not remember his name but his action is undoubtedly inspiring.

    We all have similar plans – we all understand the importance of planting trees. But we often forget to take action since we have so many other things to do in a day to day life.

    So, now we have set a reminder for us:

    For every new client (irrespective of size), we will plant a tree in Kolkata. Period.

    UPDATE: You may take a look at the photos here http://bit.ly/plantprachar

     
    • Debleena 8:11 am on 29/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Dats an awsomeee idea! I also join the league!

    • Pritha 2:54 pm on 29/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      This sounds awesome… ‘I also join the league’…..

    • Pramod 7:42 pm on 30/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Great initiative. I was searching about carbon footprint and here is what I found at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/4217055/Two-Google-searches-produce-same-CO2-as-boiling-a-kettle.html

      “Making two internet searches through Google produces about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle, it has been estimated.”

      “According to Gartner, an American research firm, IT now causes about two per cent of global CO2 emissions and its carbon footprint exceeded that of the world’s aviation industry for the first time in 2007.

      Dr Alex Wissner-Gross, a physicist from Harvard University who is leading research into the subject, has estimated that browsing a basic website generates about 0.02g of CO2 for every second it is viewed.”

      Best of luck for identifying the responsibility …

    • kamanashish 10:21 am on 01/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Hi Pramod,
      Thanks for the reply … About the Google search issue, there had been some changes in facts and figures … Here is another story: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece

    • sanat 5:11 pm on 01/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      brilliant idea… you must inform the client about this venture…noble cause…

      • kamanashish 6:03 pm on 01/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

        Hi Sanat, thanks for appreciating … This is a reminder – just for us … Let client love us for what we offer them :D

        If things go well, perhaps, tomorrow we will plant the first tree under this initiative.

    • kamanashish 11:22 am on 02/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

      cool … we have just planted a guava tree … Why Guava? Simply incentivizing the process for people to take care of the tree for guava :D … And we will plant fruit trees only :D for the same reason.

      images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56582733@N02/5225616453/

    • Sumit Dewanjee 5:59 pm on 08/03/2011 Permalink | Reply

      Good to see you in such project. I should do the same when i create new blog…:)

    • Susmit Mukherjee 4:15 am on 25/03/2011 Permalink | Reply

      This is a really cool and innovative initiative. Although there is not too much to do, little ideas like this show results which make a huge difference for everybody :) A greener city – a better life. Everyone would appreciate this. Thanks guys.

    • Sadhak 12:45 pm on 05/12/2011 Permalink | Reply

      I love the initiative. This kind of initiative I saw at Indore, MP when I was in School. If Possible I would love to be a part of this noble initiative.

  • kamanashish 11:20 am on 28/11/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    The forward slashes at the beginning of internet addresses have long annoyed net users and now the man behind them has apologised for using them. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, has confessed that the // in a web address were actually “unnecessary”. He told the Times newspaper that he could easily have designed URLs not to have the forward slashes. “There you go, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said. He admitted that when he devised the web, almost 20 years ago, he had no idea that the forward slashes in every web address would cause “so much hassle”. His light-hearted apology even had a green angle as he accepted that having to add // to every address had wasted time, printing and paper.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8306631.stm
     
  • saikat 9:02 am on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , hacking   

    kamanashish changed my webprachar now password :X

     
  • Anirudh 8:56 am on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Having a great discussion with Kamanashish and Saikat da about how should we proceed with our product ideas ..

     
    • kamanashish 9:07 am on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      For those who are not in the loop, we are not finding enough time to work on our own products since we are too busy with client based projects. And every time, we make sure that we must concentrate on our own products, clients come up with some urgent tasks … And our own products suffer. (no need to say that – clients are our FIRST priority)

      Must find out a more effective task distribution channel …

      • saikat 5:04 pm on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

        don’t you think Anirudh is looking like Santa in this photo? lol

        • kamanashish 5:13 pm on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

          Yupp only looks till now – we should teach him how to act like a Santa – get ready with your list :D

    • Junie Wieseler 8:47 pm on 23/03/2011 Permalink | Reply

      I definitely didn’t realize that. Learnt something new right now! Thanks for that.

    • Elijah Mellage 1:46 am on 21/11/2011 Permalink | Reply

      Hello, everyone, I just came here, nice to meet up with you, welcome to visit my site and space, happy to be friends along, love your little Tom

  • kamanashish 8:16 pm on 26/11/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Will Twitter die if I can make a list my Twitter home page?

     
    • Rishab 5:24 am on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      why ?

      • kamanashish 8:17 am on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

        Once you have the option to make a single group your landing page at Twitter, you will start following thousands of people just to increase your network. And at the same time, you will start developing a list to follow (new home page). And you are not the only one. All smart twitter users will start doing so.

        So what?

        • saikat 5:02 pm on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

          But that I can do now also – I just don’t take a look at my timeline, I go to my list and visit the channels.

          And if, that happens, I think spammers will try to get listed on your list instead of being followed :)

    • Debleena 1:11 pm on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      really thought provoking……..I m still thinking……….mmmmmmmmmmmm…..

      • saikat 5:03 pm on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

        don’t take much time to think….come on, say something, do something.

  • kamanashish 8:06 pm on 26/11/2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Web for both coders and marketers 

    Once upon a time, world was moved by big machines. Giant machines made gigantic piles of money. There were more people who could get a giant machine and thus there were too many giant machines. Once there were too many giant machines, people started making money without buying a giant machine. They started marketing and selling what those giant machines made. Today we have both – giant machines and sellers and both are happily married.

    Once upon a time, internet was run by coders and inventors. As time passed, there were more coders, people started “needing more” and there were more people online and along came the sellers seeing a goldmine. And there came the free market or the freemium market. All coders are not businessman to make money in the Freemium model and all businessman are not coders. And they are getting married to help each other live happily.

     
    • saikat 5:00 pm on 27/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      Web is for the customers. There was a time when only techies were part of the internet. But now, 8 to 80 – all are using internet. Hence, you have to be what your customer wants you to be – a customer support rep, a coder, a marketer, a trainer, a guide, a tutor …

    • kamanashish 10:24 am on 29/11/2010 Permalink | Reply

      but it is not just about having everything in a single person – a rare combination and takes years of practice :D … But, a successful product (design, development, marketing …) definitely a team work. Does it call for a new venture?

    • Chantelle Fabros 12:46 am on 06/12/2010 Permalink | Reply

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    • Laure Lamango 11:59 am on 21/05/2011 Permalink | Reply

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    • Kelly 9:58 pm on 16/05/2012 Permalink | Reply

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